It works like this:
Person A ("Billy") is a friend of Person B ("Sarah"). Billy doesn't have
anything to actually say to Sarah right now, but wants to affirm their
mutual connection in an undemanding, content-free way. So Billy sends
Sarah a peep: an instant message, SMS, email, or other
asynchronous message, as follows:
Billy: peep
If Sarah sees Billy's message and has anything to say to him, she can
reply in detail:
Sarah: Hey, want to go out for sushi tonight?
However, if Sarah is too busy to actually reply in any meaningful way, she can still return Billy's affirmation of mutual connection by replying:
Sarah: meep
And that's all it takes to complete the transaction.
Furthermore, if Billy himself is too busy to risk getting engaged in a conversation, but wishes he could flash her the equivalent of a quick smile across a crowded room, he can still send her a quickpeep, abbreviated qp:
Billy: qp
Sarah knows that Billy hasn't time to chat right now, but that he is there
and that he wanted to affirm their connection. She can either reply
with a standard meep, or she can send him a reply written in such a way
that it doesn't beg an immediate response:
Sarah: Going for sushi at Midori Mushi at 8 with Joe and Kris, hope
you can make it.
And that's the Peep Protocol.
Special thanks to Jp Polk for her work as my equal contributor in
developing this protocol.
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